Unfortunate Blessing
by enjaes
Summary: AU. Set where Sasuke was brought back and the shinobi war didn't start. Dealing with injured shinobi at the hospital everyday was bad enough, but Sakura always gets home only to have to take care of her boys. Now, she must also deal with this relationship with Kakashi that she can't quite define. KakaSaku.
1. Chapter 1

A/N:

This is a Kakashi x Sakura fanfic, set in an AU where Sasuke has been brought back and the war hasn't started.

* * *

'Sakura-chan, is it done yet?' Naruto whined from where he was sitting on a chair in the middle of Sakura's apartment.

Because Naruto's hair was growing too long for comfort, he decided to visit his Naruto-proclaimed personal hairdresser during her precious day off _without_ bringing ice cream or chocolate.

Of course, he was then tied to a chair and made to sit through hours of Sakura's reading of medical texts before she deigned to give him her attention.

Sakura was now working on the remaining spot of long hair at the back of his head.

'Sit still.' Sakura admonished, as she hit the top of his head with the blunt edge of the scissors.

'I'm going to complain to Kashi-sensei. This is child abuse.' Naruto accused.

'Sure. Bring Kakashi here so I can finally trim his shaggy hair as well.' Sakura gave Naruto a fake smile as she said.

Now that they were all grown up and placed in different vocations, only Naruto stuck to adding the "sensei" title to Kakashi's name when addressing him. Team Seven hardly went on missions together anymore, since all of them had grown to become powerful Shinobi in their own right, and there was hardly ever a need for such an overpowered team unless it was an S-class mission. Usually, only two of them at most would ever be on the same team at a time.

Naruto was now the Hokage-in-training, and Sasuke had recently been drafted into ANBU. Kai was – well – Kai. Nobody really knew what he does.

Kakashi was placed back on the active ninja roster after refusing to take on any other genin team. He claimed that it would raise his blood pressure too high if he had to continue dealing with brats. Team Seven knew, however, that the truth was that the copy-ninja just didn't want any other team besides them. He was actually quite transparent if one knew where to look.

Sakura was given the position as Tsunade's assistant in the hospital, putting her on the same level as Shizune. Since the Hokage hardly ever had time to personally run the hospital, it meant that Sakura and Shizune were effectively in-charge of it.

'I invited Sasuke and Sai over for dinner. You call Kakashi.' Naruto announced with his hands still tied to the chair.

Sakura didn't even want to question why Naruto saw fit to invite people over to _her_ house anymore. It happened way too often over the years.

 _No more salt – let's go find Sakura._

 _I need to patch up my clothing – let's go find Sakura._

 _We need to catch up with each other – let's go find Sakura._

They might as well have shared a home.

Sakura's initial thought when it first happened was to rage at Naruto and to properly educate him on manners, but then she realised that he had been left alone long enough as a child, and she could bare to spare the time for him if he so wished.

'Why do I have to get Kakashi? You can do it yourself.' Sakura questioned.

' _Because,_ Kakashi listens to you the most.' Naruto spelled out, as if it was something more obvious than Naruto loving ramen.

'What makes you think that? Kakashi doesn't listen to anyone, not even Tsunade-baa.' Sakura asked. The copy-ninja was notorious for always skipping out on meeting he didn't seem to be important, and slacking off on reports that he was too lazy to write. If not for his skill, he would have been reprimanded and punished with house arrest, but as it was, he was only given a light slap on the wrist and sent out for missions time and again.

At her question, Naruto looked at her like she had grown another head.

Before Sakura could smack that look off his face, there was a knock on the door.

It must be Sasuke.

Sai wouldn't have bothered knocking. From all the possible traits he could have picked up from Naruto, the eccentric artist chose to learn this.

'Come in, Sasuke. You better have brought food for us or you'll be heading out with Naruto tied to the chair to pack something back.' Sakura raised her voice to be heard from the other side of the door.

Sasuke thrust a plastic bag of assorted food items through the gap of the door as a peace offering before fully stepping into the apartment. The boys knew exactly when Sakura was playing around and when Sakura was being serious.

Sakura squealed and ran up to kiss Sasuke on the cheek, leaving Naruto in his uncomfortable position. She could always count on Sasuke to be the sensible and polite one.

'Is Naruto being castrated? I would like to take notes.' Sai said from the window where he was perched.

'Gah. You traitor! Come and untie me.' Naruto hollered at the blank faced ninja.

'It doesn't look like Sakura is done with you yet.' Kakashi supplied as he stepped into the room through the window behind Sai. 'I hope you bought enough food, Sasuke.'

'There should be enough if Sakura doesn't consume as much as she usually does.' Sai commented, before receiving a flying slipper to his head – which he neat ducked for it to hit Kakashi square in the face.

'Sai! Get your ass in here now. You're going to prepare the food and also wash up later.' Sakura ordered from where she was in the kitchen with Sasuke.

'See? You should have just taken the slipper like me. A lot easier to deal with.' Kakashi explained to the artist.

'I was under the impression that her period of the month was going to come a little later.' Sai wondered aloud.

'You can also clean my whole kitchen for me after dinner.' Sakura added.

Sai hadn't even been talking loud enough for Naruto to have heard him. Women's intuition was a scary thing.

* * *

Kakashi had come offer Sakura a position in his team for a mission, and he hadn't expected the rest of Team Seven to be there, but on hindsight, he should have.

The four of them were almost inseparable now, after the series of life threatening events that had undoubtedly forged bonds that surpassed blood relation. Whenever they had any spare time while not on a mission, Team Seven could always be seen together, be it just two people, or the entire four people.

Kakashi was proud of them.

Granted, he hadn't been that much of a sensei to them and didn't deserve commendation for grooming them into the generous and big-hearted individuals they had become, not-withstanding their fighting power as capable shinobi. However, as someone who had been by their side and watched them grow into the fine adults they now were, he could at least take a little credit, couldn't he?

Naruto was bright and cheerful as ever throughout the dinner, and Sai was staring off into space thinking Sai-thoughts.

Ever since the whole team was brought back together, Kakashi had expected some sort of rivalry to form between Sasuke and Sai, but the aloof Uchiha only regarded the ex-root agent cordially and accepted his addition to the team without any qualm.

In Uchiha language, that meant that Sasuke was thankful to Sai for having kept his team alive and wouldn't mind his continued presence among them - Sasuke could be more mature than Kakashi gave him credit for.

Today, Sasuke was brooding while eating.

Usually, whenever Sasuke fell into a somber mood, Sakura, ever the perceptive one, would sense it and drag him out of his funk. Now, however, she was distracted – she had been since Kakashi first saw her from the window.

As always on her day off, Sakura was dressed in a simple tank top and dry-fit shorts, but unlike her usual appearance, her hair was left untied against her back when it would have usually been bunned up neatly while she read her medical texts, and the jacket she had been using to brace against the approaching winter weather was missing.

'Are you cold?' Kakashi asked her when it looked like she was discreetly rubbing her hands against her arms.

'Oh. I forgot my jacket.' Sakura announced when she realised that she was indeed cold. As she sat back down after retrieving it, Kakashi casually handed her a hair tie which she then used to tie her hair up.

Sasuke glanced at Kakashi after watching the exchange.

'How many missions have you two been on together for the past year? Sasuke addressed the remaining pair who were not arguing about which brand of instant ramen was better – okay, Naruto was one-sidedly arguing against Sai who was simply drawing out his favourite brand.

'Ten?'

'Sixteen.'

Kakashi knew the exact figure, and Sakura was a little surprised that there had been so many. She hadn't been keeping count.

Sixteen was a large figure for two high-ranked jounin like them to have been on a mission together in one year, and that usually only happened if it was specially requested by the client, or specially requested by the shinobi themselves.

In this case, it was the preference of the shinobi.

Every now and then, Kakashi and Sakura would pick a mission either meant for pairs or a larger team. They worked well together, and their skillsets complimented each other. After so many years of suffering each other's presence, they could now work perfectly in sync, and the combination of a combat medic and experienced ANBU was lethal.

After a while, they began to have clients who would specially ask for their placement in the team.

Of course, working with anyone else from Team Seven would have been a joy for either of them, but Naruto was busy with Hokage training, Sasuke had his ANBU business to attend to, and Sai was always off in his own world.

Meanwhile, the two of them only had work and more work in their lives – a perfect fit as partners.

As much as Sakura had tried dating over the years, nothing ever really worked out. The men she had been with were always nice and gentlemanly, but there was always a touch of something missing. They hadn't gone through the same experiences Sakura had, so some of their ideas and remarks seemed almost naïve to her. Death changes people, and it was something that distinguished competent shinobi from others – that was the truth of their world.

Kakashi, on the other hand, was pretty much an established bachelor by now.

* * *

'I actually came today to get Sakura to go on a mission.' Kakashi finally explained his unexpected presence when Sasuke was still looking at him.

He passed over a mission scroll to Sakura.

'Hmm. I'm not really feeling up for it. This mission doesn't require a medic, so I guess you can take Sasuke if you need a partner?' Sakura offered after skimming through the mission directives.

Kakashi could count the number of times Sakura had rejected a mission on one hand, and they were usually bad times. As busy as she was, Sakura always took time out for missions because it acted as a reprieve from her daily routine of blood and gore at the hospital. Kakashi suspected she also liked to beat the shit out of offending shinobi or anyone else, but he would never say her that to her face. He quite appreciated his life, and would like to keep it.

'I have some business to attend to tomorrow morning, so if it isn't urgent then I can join you in the afternoon.' Sasuke told Kakashi.

'Alright.' And that settled it.

* * *

A/N:

Thank you for reading this chapter, and please leave a review on you way out! It's how I improve on it :)


	2. Chapter 2

'I have some business to attend to tomorrow morning, so if it isn't urgent then I can join you in the afternoon.' Sasuke told Kakashi.

'Alright.' And that settled it.

* * *

Team Seven stayed on late into the night, each focusing on their own interests. Much of the time they spent together usually passed like this. After so long of knowing each other, there was no need for conversation anymore. Simply being in each other's presence was comfort enough for them to enjoy the rare peace they could get in their line of career.

Eventually, Sasuke had to leave, and the group just waved him off as he closed the door behind him.

After another few hours of companionable silence, Sakura was fast sleep while seated at the table with her head resting on her arms, and Naruto was sprawled on the couch with his legs on Sai's lap while the artist was sketching in his sketch pad.

Seeing that he could still catch a few hours of sleep before preparing for the mission and meeting Sasuke at noon, Kakashi strode over to the kitchen counter to pick up Sakura's jacket. He then gentled spread it over her shoulders before lifting her in his arms to carry her over to her bedroom.

After depositing Sakura onto her bed and making sure the blanket was wrapped securely around her, he left by the bedroom window – not before closing it behind him to prevent the cold draft from blowing through.

Sai simply watched the older shinobi's movement throughout the short activity while continuing to sketch absentmindedly.

As a kunoichi, Sakura could do with more caution – but her lack of reaction might be because she had become so close to the copy-ninja that she no longer registered him as a threat, even when unconscious.

Naruto and Sai ended up sleeping over, and Ino found a half-naked Naruto walking out of the bathroom that was beside the bedroom when she went to visit Sakura in the morning.

'Hey, it's Ino!' Naruto greeted the Kunoichi. 'Did you bring breakfast?'

Rolling her eyes, she deposited a bag of freshly baked bread on the kitchen counter and walked to the bedroom to look for Sakura.

Everyone was already used to finding some other fragment of Team Seven along with the one they were actually looking for.

'Sakura, are you alright?' Ino entered the room without knocking.

Sakura was in the middle of strapping on her shinobi pouch.

'I'm fine?' Sakura replied quizzically.

She was supposed to meet Ino for lunch after her morning shift at the hospital and it wasn't like Ino to forget an appointment, so there was no reason for Ino to come finding Sakura at her house.

Ino studied Sakura.

Her friend looked a little pale and haggard, but that was the common appearance of medics who had to deal with long shift hours. She looked fine otherwise.

'Did something happen at the hospital recently?' Ino probed.

That morning, Kakashi had dropped by at her family's flower shop. At first, Ino wanted to inform her father that he had a guest, but she stopped when Kakashi called her out to talk to her. It was odd, because the copy-ninja usually came only to look for her father for some secretive shinobi business or another. This was a curious turn of events.

Apparently, Sakura had been acting a little off, and Kakashi wanted Ino to check on her since he would be away on a mission.

Ino personally hadn't detected anything wrong over the past few days, and even now, Sakura looked perfectly under control. However, Kakashi's paranoia was what had kept him alive through all sorts of suicidal missions and it was not something to lightly dismiss.

'Nothing.' Sakura replied a little too quickly.

As capable a kunoichi as she was, Sakura was never one to excel at deception missions – that was for people like Ino to handle.

Deciding to let her friend off the hook for now, Ino told Sakura that she had decided on a sushi restaurant for lunch and would be waiting for Sakura outside the hospital at noon.

There was plenty of time later to grill Sakura on her issues.

* * *

Sakura fed her boys before chasing them out to start the day.

Alone in her apartment, she took the time to organise her research files, binding some of the related ones together. It all ended up in a high stack on her dining table.

On hindsight, she should have kept Naruto here so that she could get him to carry the files over to the hospital for her – even Sai would have worked.

Sakura sighed. She has been distracted and off her game lately.

The only reason she had gotten a day off in the middle of the week was because Shinzune had noticed her constant absentmindedness and encouraged – or more of forced – her to take some time off. Sakura was initially given three days off, but Sakura insisted that she would take either one day or nothing.

Medics usually only had one day of rest per week, and every other day would be filled with different shifts – usually long. Their work was hard but fulfilling, and it required a certain breed of people who were willing to subject themselves to these conditions.

Gathering only the important notes to take with her, Sakura left her apartment without locking the door – there was not much point in their world of shinobi.

* * *

'Haruno-sensei, we've received an ANBU in the emergency ward.' The medic on duty at the service counter informed her when she entered the hospital.

Usually, emergency patients would be dealt with by the medics on duty, but Sakura or Shizune would be personally called to examine the patient if it was an ANBU or jounin. They were almost always the ones who get the worst injuries that would require expertise, and saving the lives of their village's protectors was something Konoha always upheld.

There was also a more unofficial explanation, which was to quickly get these high-ranking shinobi out of the hospital before regular citizens become aware that there had been something out there strong enough to hurt their village's elite forces. Panic among the people was never a good thing.

Sakura hurried to closed off section of the emergency ward that was meant for shinobi and took stock of the situation.

The ANBU was in shock from massive blood loss, and there were multiple stab wounds on the surface. With her palms glowing green, Sakura pressed onto the chest of the unconscious ANBU and pushed a minute amount of her own chakra through his system. Broken ribs, torn ligaments, organ trauma – no poison. In short, this wasn't all that bad. Just surgery coupled with chakra healing would do the trick.

Sakura had to wonder why it looked like the shinobi had been barrelled through with knives when "covert" was the mantra of ANBU, but she didn't bother to find out – she never did. How people got injured was never her concern. Her job came after.

The medic who was transferring the ANBU into a surgical room was cowering at the entrance in front of another imposing man whom Sakura presumed was the Captain.

'Do not remove his mask.' The Captain ordered.

The medic looked at Sakura pleadingly as she walked toward them.

'Take him into the room and prepare for surgery immediately. Must sure to take off the mask.' Sakura directed the medic before the frightened girl hastily pushed the bed away.

Sakura and the ANBU Captain stared each other down.

There was no protocol stating that ANBU had to take off their masks when brought to the hospital, but there also wasn't one to state that they had to have their masks on even in life-threatening situations. ANBU were simply encouraged to hide their identity as best they can, because an exposed identity would lower their efficiency and effectiveness on difficult missions.

ANBU were always imposing, and any regular citizen would find them frightening, even if they subconsciously knew that these people were the elite forces protecting Konoha. Even regular shinobi find being around ANBU unnerving. Sakura, however, probably had many friends already drafted into ANBU – Sasuke she knew for sure, since he disregarded the secrecy and told his teammates anyway. This was also why Sakura knew that underneath those masks, there were ordinary people who had lives just like any of them.

'I will do what is necessary to treat my patient, and you have no right here to stop me. You can try doing it by force, but I assure you that it will be a lot more trouble than it's worth.' Sakura smiled pleasantly at the Captain before leaving to carry out her job. She had her reputation as the Hokage's apprentice, and not a medic to be taken lightly.

* * *

Two hours of surgery later, Sakura was now sipping on coffee in her office, writing up a report on her latest patient. All shinobi who went for treatment had to be reported to the jounin commander, and in this case, the ANBU commander.

They were always a tough case to handle, because the reports cannot be too explicit in describing how the wound had been inflicted. A simple "knife wound" had to be termed as "deep lacerations". This was to prevent anyone from piecing together the mission objective of the ANBU by going through the list of injuries and their causes.

Sakura had never liked so much manipulating.

There was still an hour before lunch, so Sakura decided to head to the research wing of the hospital to check on the progress.

They were developing a new drug that would replace the traditional soldier pills in that the repercussions would be less severe. Shinobi will still be able to use it as a quick source of energy, but they will not have to face the migraine and possible physical backlash that would come afterward from lack of proper nutrients to the body. The effectiveness of the pill would also be simultaneously boosted.

If the research and manufacturing of this new drug goes well, it could also bolster Konoha's economy when they get the drug out on the market. It would take a while before other villages can figure out how to produce the drug, and by then, Konoha would have the reputation as its source.

Sakura initially advocated to keep the drug for Konoha shinobi use only, but Tsunade convinced her that the drug would be out on the black market anyway, so they might as well take the chance to sell it first.

Sakura entered the research lab that looked like it had been visited by a tornado.

In the world, there were two different types of scientists. One was the type to label every sample and piece of document neatly and keep everything well organised. The other was the type to write down everything anywhere on the spur of an eureka moment or random train of thought.

Sakura was the latter. Udon, her assistant, often tried to clean up the place, but he wasn't allowed to touch many of the key documents because Sakura would only be able to find it in her "organised chaos".

Unfortunately for Udon, there were more researchers in the lab who were more messy than neat, so the majority ruled the domain.

'Udon, can you look through these papers I drafted yesterday? I want your opinion.' Sakura requested.

'Sure. I'll get it back to you after lunch.' Udon was already flipping through his own stack of data and drawing conclusions on another sheet of paper.

Flipping through the research log, Sakura noted the things she missed when she had been away, but there hadn't been much progress. This was how things usually went with research. The research would stagnate until a key component or concept is found, then the rate of findings would exponentially increase.

'I guess I'll see you later, Udon. Make sure to get some sleep.' Sakura could see the hint of eye bags under his eyes.

'Speak for yourself, Sakura-nee.' Udon retorted.

Well, they were all medics.

* * *

As they had planned, Sakura found Ino waiting for her outside the hospital when it was time for lunch. The medics had two different shifts for lunch, and Sakura got the earlier one.

'I've been waiting all morning just for this.' Ino complained the moment Sakura got into earshot. 'There was _so much_ to do.'

Ino helped out at the interrogation department, and in times of peace, they were usually the busiest. Crime and espionage played out a lot more often when there wasn't any impending war to worry about, and shinobi could focus on sabotaging other villages from within.

By the time the pair reached the sushi restaurant, it felt like Sakura's ears were bleeding from Ino's non-stop rant about anything and everything, and Sakura only got her reprieve when Ino was choosing from the menu.

'So, what's going on with you?' Ino finally switched her focus.

Sakura remained silent. She knew that Ino could see through any lie she would say, but she didn't exactly want to tell the truth either.

'Does this have something to do with Kakashi?' Ino probed.

'Wha-' Sakura began. 'No, why would you even ask that?'

Ino observed her friend. Naturally, anyone would first guess that the eccentric ninja had something to do with her mood since they were so close, but Sakura was obviously blind to that fact. She treated everyone how she liked and never really analysed her own actions.

'Then what's the problem?' Ino pressed.

Sakura sighed.

When Ino was determined to get something out of a person, she never gave up. She might not get it immediately, but she would keep pushing to wear that person down until she finally claimed victory.

It wasn't worth it to fight back so hard.

'I lost my patient. Last week.' Sakura admitted.

In her line of work, death was a familiar friend. However, this didn't mean that Sakura had to get used to easily accepting the death of people, especially someone that she had grown to care about as a patient. The death this time hit her harder than it ever had in years, because the patient was only twelve years old. The boy had been hospitalised since he was eight, and had been one of her first long term patients.

Just when it looked like he was getting better, his illness rebounded and got increasingly severe, to the point that nothing else could be done to save his life. The worst part of it was that his friends had visited him almost every day, and it reminder Sakura so much of her own group of friends. At twelve years old, they had all just graduated from the Academy and were eagerly looking forward to the life ahead of them. No one deserved to have that possibility robbed from them.

Ino saw that there was nothing she could say to her friend as comfort, because she personally couldn't understand what it was like being a medic to face all that pressure everyday, so she merely scooted into the booth beside Sakura to hug her.

Kakashi had been right, but Ino had no doubt that Sakura would get through it eventually, even if left on her own. Her friend wasn't mentally weak, and she was too professional to let it hinder her future work.

Speaking of Kakashi…

'Why didn't you tell Kakashi to stay with you?' Ino asked after Sakura composed herself again.

'What for?' Sakura was puzzled.

'I'm sure he would have if you asked.' Ino ignored Sakura's question.

Sakura knew that Ino was right, because both her and Kakashi had dropped missions at the other's behest before, and there was even once when Sakura simply decided to forgo the mission when she found out Kakashi wouldn't be able to go with her. Sai offered to help, but there were just some days when a girl didn't want to spend time alone with a creepy artist who had no sense of privacy – don't get it wrong, Sakura still loved Sai.

This time, however, there was no real reason for her to stop Kakashi, and the mission was only going to be four days long.

'Right.' Sakura said, deciding not to ask Ino why he had to stay. Who knows what Ino was up to?

After a moment of silence, Ino rolled her eyes at her friend.

One was a medic and the other was a war veteran. Both were intelligent and had exceptional observation skills. It was almost a crime for them to be so oblivious.

* * *

A/N:

Thanks for reading the chapter, and please leave a review on your way out!


	3. Chapter 3

One was a medic and the other was a war veteran. Both were intelligent and had exceptional observation skills. It was almost a crime for them to be so oblivious.

* * *

It had been five days since that lunch meeting with Ino, and all was well in Konoha – almost all.

The sky was an azure blue with the clouds languidly floating through the soft wind. The market was bustling with the activity of trade and haggling, while children played traditional games of tag at the park nearby.

It would have been the picture of a perfect day if not for a certain medic storming through the hospital.

All the medics who had their shifts that day knew not to do anything to stand out, because today was the day that Sakura had decided to carry out spot-checks and go through their standard protocol that many had long ago forgone for higher efficiency.

Leaving the first-aid standard description blank? One week's worth of paperwork.

Going through a patient's file without recording it in the log? One week's worth of filing.

Discharging a patient half a day earlier than scheduled? Extra night shifts.

The unlucky medics who happened to have been caught on that particular day cursed whatever creature had gotten Sakura into such a bad mood.

Usually, Sakura and Shizune would turn a blind eye to certain minor malpractices that hindered only bureaucracy rather than any medical effectiveness - but today was not that kind of day.

'Sakura-nee?' Udon called out as he entered Sakura's office.

'Hmm?' Sakura hummed.

'Why are you so pissy today?' Udon asked. He had always been rather shy and timid, but having been a friend of someone like Konohamaru for years, he had learned the art of absolute bluntness that was needed to get through his friend's thick skull. Sakura couldn't decide whether it was a good thing or not.

'What makes you think I'm in a bad mood?' Sakura replied with her own question.

'Because no medic wants to get within five meters of you.' Udon answered.

Sakura knew why exactly why she was feeling so annoyed today. Kakashi and Sasuke hadn't returned from their mission when they were due to be back two days ago. Both of them were among the most powerful shinobi Sakura knew, and together, they were almost unstoppable. Even if they had been delayed, Kakashi could have sent one of his ninken to bring word to them. There was really no reason for them to be out of contact unless…

Sakura dismissed the thought

'I'm fine, sorry. Tell everyone I'll be going off soon and I'll get out of your hair.' Sakura told Udon.

Since Shizune was always telling her to rest more, Sakura took that as a free pass for her to leave work at her own whim – although it was usually the case that she stayed longer than required.

* * *

Sakura ran over the roof of the buildings to reach the Hokage tower.

The administrative shinobi registered her visit without a word, seeing that it was the Hokage's apprentice who had come. There was no need for any appointment.

'Tsunade-shishou.' Sakura greeted her master as she opened the door.

'Oh, it's Sakura. Did you bring any sake?' Tsunade asked.

'Did Shizune confiscate it again?' Sakura's voice carried the tone of amusement. Sometimes, she had to wonder how Shizune managed to carry out the work at the hospital while keeping their Hokage in line when it came to her vices.

The answer to the question Sakura voiced was obvious, because only Shizune would dare to rob the Hokage of her sake, so Tsunade didn't bother answering. Seeing that Sakura had come empty handed, she went back to doing her paperwork while Sakura picked up stray files and pieces of paper to put them back where they belonged to on the shelves.

Her master was the only person Sakura knew who was more disorganised than her when it came to paperwork, and Sakura was always forced to clean up after Tsunade even while she hardly ever cleaned up after herself. It had already become a habit after so many years.

'There's no news yet, if that's what you're here for.' Tsunade offered after a moment of silence.

Sakura felt her heart sink.

'You know that they can take care of themselves, Sakura.' Tsunade said more gently this time.

'But it's Kakashi and Sasuke.' Sakura said almost exasperatedly.

'It isn't uncommon even for the best shinobi to-'

'I know, but it was just a simple transport mission and – well – it's Kakashi and Sasuke.' Sakura stubbornly repeated herself. Tell any shinobi on the street that the copy-ninja and elite ANBU got into trouble while together on a mission, and they would laugh in your face.

'Sakura, I'll let you know the moment I get news, alright?' Tsunade said.

Seeing that she clearly wasn't going to get anything else, Sakura simply nodded in acknowledgement.

As she prepared to leave from the door, a blur of yellow and orange whirled into the room through the window, and the ANBU hidden in the shadows tensed. They only relaxed when they saw that it was just Naruto.

'Baa-chan, are they back yet?' Naruto asked with his usual exuberance, but there was a tinge of worry.

Tsunade wanted to raise her white flag. Just add Sai, and the whole of Team Seven would be-

'Sakura is here.' Sai commented from where he was perched on the windowsill.

He had been with Naruto when the urge to check on their missing teammates struck the blond terror, so naturally, he followed along.

'Out. Everyone out.' Tsunade commanded.

'Aww, Tsunade-baa.' Naruto whined before he received a lump on his head and was booted out along with his teammates.

'They'll be fine, Sakura-chan. They're almost as strong as me, y'know.'

Sakura could see that Naruto was trying to comfort himself more than he was trying to help her.

'Yeah, we'll cook tomato soup for Sasuke and miso soup for Kakashi when they get back.' Sakura said.

* * *

It was another three days before Team Seven was back together.

Sasuke carried a limp Kakashi into the hospital late in the afternoon, and the injured shinobi was attended to by Shizune.

The wounds looked ghastly, but most of it was purely superficial and would only leave light scarring behind.

As he was being transferred out of the emergency ward, a harried Sakura finally burst into the room.

She had just left the hospital earlier that day after her morning shift had ended, and she rushed back the moment she heard from a passing shinobi that the pair from Team Seven had returned – trust shinobi gossip to be more efficient than any relay system.

'Are they alright?' Sakura asked Shizune who was filling out the medical charts.

'You could just ask me.' Kakashi drawled from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed.

Only the sight of the bandages covering his muscles torso stopped Sakura from decking him. No one could trust a Konoha shinobi to give a reliable evaluation of their own health – most would insist they were fine even on their death beds. This was the fault of the previous generation of shinobi. There was always some sort of petty rivalry or another between them, and out of the blue, it had become a competition to see who could stay out of the hospital the longest.

It was probably meant as an encouragement for shinobi to remain safe while out on missions, but of course, the thick-headed shinobi took it as a challenge to avoid the hospital for as long as possible even if they were injured.

This was the ultimate obstacle all medics faced. There was a saying among them that if one could convince a Konoha shinobi to willingly stay in bed, one was a successful medic. Sakura hoped that using threats and force wasn't considered cheating.

'He's fine. Due to discharge tomorrow.' Shizune announced. 'Sasuke wasn't injured.'

Sasuke had already left to report the mission outcome after taking Kakashi to the hospital. It was standard protocol for any able shinobi to report directly to the Hokage if anything unexpected had happened on their mission.

Leaving just Kakashi and Sakura in the ward, Shizune exited to carry on with her shift since she was still on duty.

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest.

Kakashi absently noted that her breasts where her arms were had developed well, and she filled out nicely into her adult body - with curves in all the right places.

As attractive as it was to look at, Sakura crossing her arms was never a good sign. Kakashi was itching to bring out his Icha Icha to direct his attention elsewhere, but it had been blown up along with his shinobi pouch during the mission.

The whole transportation of sensitive documents had gone well, but when Kakashi and Sasuke were on the way back, they came across a group of missing-nin from Rain. Since they were already near the border of the Land of Fire, Kakashi decided to simply activate one of Konoha's own traps as a distraction for the pair to safely cross into their country. It would all have gone well if not for the fact that there were more than one explosive seal hidden within the trap. The shinobi who set it up must have screwed up and decided it wasn't worth reporting because the trap would still be effective against intruders anyway. In Kakashi's case, however, he hadn't anticipated such a wide blast radius and failed to escape unscathed. Worse still, the enemy had been tipped off by Kakashi's quick movements the moment he noticed the two tags, and they left the area.

For the next few days, the two of them stayed at a small inn in one of the villages at the outskirts of Fire country to monitor the movements of the missing-nin. Now that they had exposed the trap, there were fewer effective means to repel the intruders, and the pair hadn't come across any Konoha patrol yet - suspiciously odd.

The two of them only returned when they were sure that the group of missing-nin had turned tail and ran instead of staking out the area to manoeuvre around the traps and patrols.

'So?' Sakura tested.

'So…?' Kakashi dumbly repeated. He wasn't quite sure what she was getting at, and that could lead to a lot of discomfort for him later.

Sakura waited in silence.

Kakashi just stared blankly at her.

'You didn't send Pakkun.' Sakura finally hinted.

'I didn't send him.' Kakashi confirmed, gauging if he could smoothly talk himself out of whatever situation this was.

'Kakashi-sensei.' Sakura finally called out in exasperation.

This was not good.

She only ever used the term when she was trying to remind him that he was supposed to be mature and responsible in the face of some act of foolishness of his.

'Sakura-chan.' Kakashi affably replied with her pet name.

'Damn it, Kakashi. You could have just sent a note to let us know you were alright. I know you _never_ send notes, but I wasn't on the mission with you this time and I worry.' Sakura's voice was getting increasingly louder.

'I'm sorry, Sakura.' Kakashi said.

There was a paused as Sakura had him under scrutiny.

'You're still never going to do it, are you?' Sakura asked, already knowing the answer.

There was nothing for Kakashi to reply to that. It wasn't against mission protocol to contact the village if there was an efficient method to do so, but doing it ran the risk of interception, which could lead to many undesirable outcomes.

Sakura sighed and approached Kakashi to clean up his wounds and re-administer his bandages. Shizune had already done it earlier, but Kakashi silently allowed Sakura to poke and prod at his body. It was her way of assuring herself of his presence.

Kakashi couldn't say he was displeased with this turn of events. With his shinobi reputation and his many eccentricities, nobody bar the Hokage and his friends were daring enough to cross him, much less baby him like what Sakura was doing – and she did that a lot.

'To be fair, Sasuke didn't do anything either.' Kakashi offered, once it was clear that Sakura's ire had died down.

He received a light pinch on his arm.

'That doesn't excuse you of anything. I'm going to grill him separately later.' Sakura said.

Kakashi was glad that Sasuke hadn't been injured like him, but he was surprised to find that it was not for the innocent reason that he cared about his student's safety. He would file this bit of information for future analysis.

* * *

A/N:

Thanks for reading, and please leave a review on your way out :)


	4. Chapter 4

Kakashi was glad that Sasuke hadn't been injured like him, but he was surprised to find that it was not for the innocent reason that he cared about his student's safety. He would file this bit of information for future analysis.

* * *

Kakashi and Sakura were walking along the market district to get ingredients for their dinner tonight with Team Seven.

'Sakura-chan!' A young civilian man at a stall selling fresh produce called out.

'Hi Akio.' Sakura greeted.

'I was worried since you haven't been around lately. You have been busy?' The man smiled at Sakura as he start the conversation.

'Work at the hospital has gotten busier lately, so I eat out more often.' Sakura explained as she perused the products the stall had to offer. Kakashi who was standing off to the side was absently glancing along the street. He hadn't gotten another Icha Icha since the hospital yet, so he had nothing to pull out as a distraction.

'That can't be very healthy, can it? You can drop by for dinner anytime, my mum was asking after you a few weeks back.' Akio offered.

Kakashi audibly cleared his throat.

'Ah, forgive me. Akio, this is Kakashi, my teammate.' Sakura finally introduced.

'Hi.' Kakashi greeted as he provided his trademark one-eye-smile and stepped closer behind Sakura.

Akio's eyes widened. The copy-ninja had quite the reputation even among civilians, and he hardly ever visited the market or civilian district, so he was something of an unseen legend.

'Hello.' Akio replied without his previous enthusiasm and with slight reverence.

'Can I get some eggplant and tomato?' Sakura asked the stall owner.

'Sure! I'll pick some nice ones for you.'

As Akio was wrapping up the goods, Sakura explained to Kakashi that he was someone she knew from childhood, since they lived near each other in the civilian residential area before he had to move to another street.

Sakura picked out the right amount of change for Akio.

'Don't worry about it. I have to keep you fed or my mum will nag at me.' Akio laughed as he pushed away her money.

'Well, if you're sure. Thanks, Akio. I'll drop by to greet Maeko-oba someday.' Sakura smiled as she thanked her friend.

Expecting Kakashi to follow after her, Sakura left the stall without a backward glance.

Kakashi remained where he was standing.

'Don't worry, I'll make sure to take care of her.' Kakashi eye-smiled and spoke the man who was now staring at him. Kakashi felt slightly affronted that someone else had to be acting all caring about Sakura when she looked a little tired. She was his teammate, and it made him feel as if he hadn't done his job well enough.

At least, that was the excuse Kakashi told himself for doing what he did.

After Kakashi left, Akio was still a little unnerved at having been spoken to by a famous shinobi, and the tone of the message sounded somewhat threatening. He also found money left at the stand where the copy-ninja was.

* * *

'Why eggplant and tomato?' Kakashi asked Sakura as he was walking beside her.

They were now heading in the direction of the residential area where Sakura's apartment was, so Kakashi assumed that they had gotten everything they needed.

'I promised Naruto.' Sakura stated simply.

While they were walking, Sakura had subconsciously hooked her arm into the crook of his elbow while his hand was in his pocket. She did that a lot with the members of Team Seven whenever they were out together, and Kakashi suspected that Naruto had gotten her into that habit.

Since young, Naruto hadn't had much experience with physical contact, se he grew to crave even the small touches he had with his team. As time went on, the image he had of a mother figure was subconsciously imposed onto Sakura, and he took it as a given that mothers held onto their children when they were out.

The first time Naruto pulled Sakura's arm to grab his elbow, Sakura thought it was cute and humoured him. Evidently, it never stopped, and Kakashi never brought it up.

* * *

'Sakura-chan, I'm hungry.' Naruto whined from where he was seated at the sofa of Sakura's apartment.

Sakura rolled her eyes. Naruto was always hungry.

'Aren't you supposed to be with Tsunade-shishou today?' Sakura asked. There was a meeting with Clan Heads, and Sakura knew the Hokage wanted to bring Naruto along to start teaching him proper formalities.

'I told Tsunade-baa that we were gonna have dinner as a team today, so she let me off early.' Naruto replied.

Sakura sighed. No doubt, when Naruto said he "told" her, it probably meant he whined about it until Tsunade had enough and chased him away.

Anyone among their circle of friends knew how hard Naruto worked to get to where he was today. Getting the acceptance of the shinobi and civilians hadn't been easy for a child who had been an outcast since his birth. He had to show physical power and mental fortitude in order for Tsunade to get the approval of the council to train him as the future Hokage. It had taken him so many years, but he finally did it, and Sakura couldn't be any prouder.

On days like this, however, she had to wonder what possessed the whole village to allow him to become Hokage.

'Come help me cook. Kakashi, you can set up the table.' Sakura ordered as she brought the ingredients into the kitchen.

'Why can't I cook?' Kakashi asked innocently.

Both Naruto and Sakura just gave him a blank look.

After so many years of missions outside as a team and suffering through Kakashi's "cooking", it was an unspoken rule to never let Kakashi go near so much as a cooking pot.

The food Kakashi served always looked like bits of raw meat in cold water – and it tasted exactly like it looked.

No one answered him as they went into the kitchen to start on the food preparation.

* * *

'Kakashi.' Sasuke greeted with a nod when he entered the apartment.

'Sasuke.' Kakashi acknowledged.

'You're just in time, Sasuke. Come sit.' Sakura said, as she exited the kitchen carrying a pot of soup. Naruto soon followed, carrying another pot.

'Sai can't come today, so let's eat!' Naruto exclaimed with great eagerness.

Dinner that day was a filling tomato soup and miso soup with eggplant, which was odd, because Sakura always made sure to feed her team a balanced meal whenever she could – not that Sasuke or Kakashi were complaining.

Sasuke was made to wash up after dinner since Sakura and Naruto had done the cooking while Kakashi had set up the table. Although Kakashi hadn't done nearly enough to be excused from further duties, Kakashi glibly talked his way out of it as usual, and no one really wanted to waste energy arguing against him. Even if they managed to get him to do some work eventually, they would have already wasted hours – hours that Kakashi would spend enjoying at their expense.

'Sakura, can I talk to you?' The occupants of the room all perked up at Sasuke's question.

Team Seven were having a game night, where they would spend time together playing whatever inane game they fancied. Sometimes it was board games; sometimes it was a competition to compare shinobi skills; sometimes it was to see who could unmask Kakashi.

Naruto was setting up a game board while Sakura cleared away her files and papers on the coffee table for some space. Kakashi was lounging on the sofa reading one of the novels Sakura kept.

'Sure. Shoot.' Sakura replied, expecting Sasuke to need her opinion on something.

'I mean alone.' Sasuke said, when it was clear that Sakura wasn't moving from where she was.

'Oh. Right.' Sakura got up from where she was kneeling beside lower shelf of her bookcase.

As the two of them walked out of the apartment, there were two pairs of curious eyes following them.

* * *

'Is there something wrong, Sasuke?' Sakura asked with a worried frown.

If Sasuke called her out alone to talk, he must want her opinion as a medic on something. This might have something to do with his sharingan, or maybe some long-term trauma that he wanted to keep from the rest.

'Is it your eyes?' Sakura pressed, stepping closer to palm his face and stare at his eyes when Sasuke remained silent and brooding.

Sasuke grabbed both her wrists and forced them down.

'Sakura…' Sasuke began. There was a touch of hesitance in his tone that wouldn't have been detected by anyone other than a member of Team Seven.

'If this is about the medical supplies, then it's fine.' Sakura offered, referring to the last time when Sasuke took her supplies before rushing off on an ANBU mission. He hadn't gotten to returning them, and Sasuke was the type to agonise over the most uncommon things.

'Go out with me.' Sasuke finally explained the true purpose for calling her out.

Sakura was stunned.

Many years ago, when she had still been a child hounding after him along with Ino, she would have squealed and jumped for joy at his announcement, but now, she didn't know how to react.

'Those years ago, when I was with Orochimaru, I thought about Team Seven a lot. I even missed everyone, and I thought of you the most. You refused to give up on me even after how badly I treated you, and I wanted to apologise right after I returned.

'Then, when I came back, I saw that you didn't need an apology from me anymore. You moved on. You have become an amazing kunoichi, and an even more amazing woman.

'I…' Sasuke seemed to be stuck.

'I fell for you then.' He concluded.

Sakura didn't know what to say. After a string of failed relationships, she stopped actively searching for companionship anymore, and she had resigned to simply let nature take its course.

Now, Sasuke was offering for her to become his partner, and her answer should have been obvious – the same answer as the one she gave all the other guys who asked her out. Sakura should be telling Sasuke that she would try out this relationship.

However, Sasuke wasn't the same as any other guy, was he?

He was her teammate, and her friend.

He was someone she couldn't bear to lose if it turned out that the relationship wasn't going to work. People say ex-lovers could still be friends after a breakup, but that was only for those people who never loved deep enough. When Sakura loved, she loved deeply.

'Sasuke-' Sakura began, but was cut off by Sasuke's hand cupping her cheek.

'Don't tell me now. You can think about it.' Sasuke said. 'Just know that I won't give up so easily.'

Sasuke left Sakura standing frozen outside of her apartment.

* * *

A/N:

Thanks for reading the chapter, and please leave a review on your way out!


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